Meta faces lawsuits, data center water concerns, and layoffs
Meta faces diverse challenges, including a congressional inquiry into its data center's water usage in Morgan County, Georgia, and multiple lawsuits regarding its platforms' impact on children. The company is also undergoing significant layoffs while increasing investment in AI infrastructure. An independent study commissioned by Meta found no impact on residents' water.
Meta Platforms is navigating a complex landscape of legal battles, workforce reductions, and infrastructure-related local disputes as it pivots heavily into artificial intelligence. During a congressional hearing on May 20, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pressed EPA water chief Jessica Kramer regarding concerns about data center construction impacting drinking water quality in Morgan County, Georgia.
Ocasio-Cortez highlighted reports from families near a Meta data center in Stanton Springs, citing declining water pressure and potential water deficits by 2030, with the data center allegedly consuming 10 percent of the community's daily water. Meta, however, stated it works with local utilities to mitigate impacts and that an independent groundwater study found no negative effects from its Stanton Springs operations. The company emphasized its construction and operations water is sourced from local utilities, not groundwater.
Simultaneously, Meta is implementing significant workforce reductions, cutting approximately 8,000 jobs and halting plans to fill 6,000 open roles. CEO Mark Zuckerberg attributed these cuts to efficiency efforts rather than AI, despite the company accelerating AI infrastructure spending and raising its 2026 capital expenditure outlook to $125 billion-$145 billion. The company is also appealing two separate jury verdicts: one in New Mexico, where it was found liable for misleading users about social media safety for children and ordered to pay $375 million, and another in California, where a jury found Meta and Google-owned YouTube negligent in causing harm to a 20-year-old plaintiff, awarding $3 million in damages. On a positive legal note, Meta recently won an antitrust case against the Federal Trade Commission, blocking efforts to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.